Property firms are gearing up to tap opportunities (Photo: Financial Magazine)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Property firms are gearing upto tap opportunities from the post-pandemic recovery of the real estate market,which was predicted to soon get back on its feet.
The real estate market has been frozen since the beginning ofthis year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Construction’s statistics showed that about80 percent of real estate sale agents were closed or temporarily haltedoperations in the first quarter of this year while the others maintainedoperations at a modest level.
The number of new real estate firms founded in the quarteralso dropped by 12 percent while of those who temporarily halted operationincreased by 94 percent.
Transactions also slumped in the quarter, equivalent to 40percent of the same period of 2019. Only 14 percent of property products availablein the market in the quarter were sold, the lowest level in the past four years.
However, industry insiders believed that the impacts wouldonly be short term and the market would be robust in the next two years.
According to Nguyen Quoc Bao, deputy director of real estate firmDanh KhoiGroup, the real estate market was undergoing a purification process, pushed bythe COVID-19 pandemic, to prepare for a new growth cycle.
This would be a difficult time for companies of weakcapacity, but for those with strong financial capacity and professionaloperation, obstacles like the COVID-19 pandemic would only be short term. Thepandemic even created opportunities, he said.
Tran Le Thanh Hien, chairman of Danh Viet Group, said the difficultiesof the real estate market were just temporary, adding that in the long term,the market had significant potential for development.
It was time for real estate companies to expand land banks,especially those with strong financial capacity.
According to Pham Lam, chairman of real estate services firmDKRA Vietnam, the market would see increasing competition in the post-pandemicperiod with the participation of diversified developers, from giants tostart-ups, which would create a robust picture in 2020-2021.
Nguyen Van Hau,general director of Asian Holding, said that real estate firms must improveresilience and flexibility to cope with market shocks.
Although there were difficulties, the market sawpositive signs, Hausaid. The State Bank of Vietnam’s move to cut rates would support the propertymarket, he said.
According to Su Ngoc Khuong, Director of Savills Vietnam, theCOVID-19 pandemic had negative impacts not only on the real estate market butalso on more than 50 relevant industries, including construction, buildingmaterials, labour and financial markets.
However, the real estate market of Vietnam still had anumber of advantages and was attractive to investors, given the population ofnearly 100 million people, 55 percent aged between 25 and 40 who had highhousing demand and strong purchasing power, together with the country’s stableeconomic growth, improved transport infrastructure and rapid urbanisation.
The Government’s efforts in hastening administrative reformsand speeding up disbursement of public investment were expected to createimpetus for economic growth which would benefit the real estate market, Khuong said./.
VNA
